Roos hit the switch to down Suns

North Melbourne needed a half-time wake-up call to eventually get over the top of an injury-hit Gold Coast by 34 points at Docklands on Saturday.

Missing captain and gun midfielder Gary Ablett as well as experienced players Michael Rischitelli and Jarrod Harbrow, the winless Suns were tipped to be dismantled by as many as 80 points by the Kangaroos.

The young stars, led by convert Karmichael Hunt, proved the punters and their lacklustre opponents wrong with a determined early display which garnered a shock one-point lead at the main break.

Given a half-time dressing-down by coach Brad Scott, the Roos returned from the sheds with the intent and vigour missing in the opening two terms to dominate the contested possessions and blow the match open.

North kicked nine goals to four in the second half to finish 17.25 (127) to 13.15 (93) winners and climb back into the top eight with a 3-2 record.

"Our first half was very scratchy and it took a bit of spray from Brad to get us going," Roos ruckman Hamish McIntosh told Grandstand.

"Our third quarter was some of the footy I know we can play.

"In the end we will take the win... but we are going to have to play a lot better than that to beat West Coast next week."

Drew Petrie, Aaron Edwards and Lindsay Thomas all finished with three goals apiece while Andrew Swallow (31) and Shaun Atley (26) topped the possession stats for the Kangaroos.

Jamie MacMillan also impressed off half-back in just his fifth game but team-mates Jack Ziebell (14 touches) and Daniel Wells were disappointing.

Wells was eventually substituted by Levi Greenwood after just 13 touches to three-quarter time.

"He is very mature for his age, he plays above his year," McIntosh said of MacMillan.

"I'm looking forward to him staying in the side all year and having a really big impact."

Hunt was involved in plenty for the Suns, enforcing his physical dominance around the ground and showing a terrific ability to read the play and win his own ball alongside David Swallow.

North started positively after last week's big loss in Sydney, making the most of Gold Coast's back-half turnovers to lead by 16 points at quarter time.

But the Roos switched off after the first change, allowing the Suns to kick an alarming seven goals to four and claim a deserved half-time lead with the likes of Harley Bennell and Kyal Horsely running amok.

North replied swiftly, kicking the first five goals of the third term to open up a 34-point lead it would not relinquish.